Today we take a look at a third cigar in the Nomad Therapy line, the Nomad Therapy Habano. It was just before the 2015 IPCPR where Fred Rewey‘s Nomad Cigar Company announced the Therapy line. This line consists of three distinct blends with each named for the type of wrapper on the cigar – Nomad Therapy Connecticut, Nomad Therapy Maduro, and Nomad Therapy Habano. Therapy was a different project for Rewey in that it featured all new packaging. Therapy is not sold in boxes, but is sold in retail trays with a refillable option. Nomad Therapy also features all new banding – very different than what is seen across the company’s other regular production lines. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Nomad Therapy Habano in the Toro offering.. Overall, I’ve been pleased with the offerings in the Therapy line I have smoked thus far, and the Therapy Habano once again was quite satisfying to me.
Habano blends are nothing new for Rewey. Cigars such as the Nomad Classic, Nomad LE Esteli Lot 1386, Nomad Esteli Lot 8613, and Nomad C-276 have incorporated Habano leaf for the wrapper; but I’ve found each of them to be quite different. The Nomad Therapy Habano is no exception.
As with all Nomad Cigars, they are distributed by Boutiques United, the company formerly known as House of Emilio.
Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Nomad Therapy Habano in the Toro size and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
For the Nomad Therapy Habano, this cigar uses a Habano Rosado wrapper from Ecuador. Like the rest of the Therapy line, it is made at Tabacalera Fernandez – a factory Rewey has partnered with for several of his Nicaraguan made blends.
Nomad Therapy Habano
Habano Rosado Ecuador
Binder: Habano Jalapa
Filler: Nicaraguan / Dominican
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Tabacalera Fernandez)
As we mentioned, the Nomad Therapy line has three distinct blends. This is not a line where a different wrapper has been put on the blend, but it features a different wrapper, binder, and filler combination. For completeness, we include the other two blends of the Nomad Therapy line.
Nomad Therapy Connecticut
Wrapper: Connecticut Ecuador
Binder: San Andres Mexican
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Tabacalera Fernandez)
Nomad Therapy Maduro
Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf
Binder: Habano Jalapa
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Tabacalera Fernandez)
Vitolas Available
All three blends of the Therapy line are available in the same two sizes – Robusto and Toro. As mentioned earlier, the cigars are available in 20 count bundles to refill the tray. The tray contains six compartments to hold the six frontmarks across the Therapy line.
Robusto: 4 1/2 x 50
Toro: 6 x 50
Appearance
The Nomad Therapy Habano Toro’s wrapper has a medium brown color. Given this is a rosado wrapper, there is a slight amount of colorado red mixed in with the color scheme. The wrapper itself is on the smooth side. There is a light coat of oil on the surface. The wrapper has some thin visible veins and some thin visible wrapper seams.
As mentioned the band of the Nomad Therapy Habano is quite different from anything seen on a Nomad release before. The band is white in color. On the center of the band is a red-colored Nomad “winged” logo. Below it is the text “NOMAD” in a red colored font with a slight handwritten effect to it. On the far right is the text “NOMAD CIGAR COMPANY @GODFADR” – also in red font. @GODFADR represents Rewey’s Twitter handle. Finally there is a thick red stripe across the top and bottom of the band. The other two blends – the Nomad Therapy Connecticut and Nomad Therapy Habano use blue and black respectively in place of the red for its font color.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Prior to lighting the Nomad Therapy Habano Toro I went with a straight cut to remove the cap. After successfully clipping the cap, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The dry draw delivered a mix of both generic wood, cedar, and some natural tobacco. Overall I found the pre-light draw of this cigar to be satisfactory. At this point I was ready to light up the Nomad Therapy Habano Toro and see what the smoking phase would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Nomad Therapy Habano Toro delivered a nice dose of what I term generic woody notes. These notes were quite prominent during the early phases. By the middle of the first third, natural tobacco notes joined the woody notes in the forefront. I also detected a slight white pepper note in the background. On the retro-hale, I detected a combination of white pepper and cedar.
Toward the later part of the first third, the generic wood notes morphed into classic cedar notes. These cedar notes remained with the natural tobacco as the primary flavors. Meanwhile some nut flavors joined the white pepper in the background.
By the second third of the Therapy Habano Toro, the nut flavors joined the cedar and natural tobacco in the forefront. Meanwhile the white pepper was joined by some subtle baker’s spice in the background.
The final third saw the cedar and natural tobacco combination remain primary. There was a slight increase in the pepper and bakers spice. The nut flavors diminished and by the end of the cigar, these notes had dissipated. This is the way the cigar experience of the Nomad Therapy Habano Toro came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
A common theme of Nomad Cigars is excellent construction. This theme has carried over to each of the three cigars of the Therapy line – including the Therapy Habano Toro. This excellent construction is reflected nicely on both the burn and draw as both scored well. The Therapy Habano Toro maintains a straight burn path from start to finish. There wass a slight amount of jaggedness on the burn line, but this didn’t result in an excessive amount of touch-ups. The resulting ash was near white in color. This was a firm ash that came off the cigar in nice clean chunks. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.
The draw to the Nomad Therapy Habano Toro also performed quite well. This was neither a loose draw, nor a tight draw. I found this cigar to be a low maintenance cigar to puff on and derive flavors from.
Strength and Body
The Nomad Therapy Habano Toro is pretty much a a classic medium / medium cigar in terms of strength and body. There was a slight increase in strength and body as the cigar burned, but I didn’t find this cigar to move beyond medium for either attribute. In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other very nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.
Final Thoughts
The initial woody notes that dominated the Nomad Therapy Habano Toro almost made me think that this was going to be a one dimensional cigar. However, my assumption was soon proved wrong as this cigar soon developed some a very nice assortment of flavors. I found this to be one of those cigars that is best enjoyed undistracted as you will be able get some nice nuances along the way. This is a cigar that can be enjoyed by either a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, I found this to be a nice part of the Nomad Therapy line. Of the three blends, I still give the nod to the Nomad Therapy Maduro as my favorite, but this is certainly a cigar I’d smoke again – and it’s worthy of a fiver.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.0-The Fiver
Score: 89
References
News: Therapy by Nomad Cigar Company to Launch at 2015 IPCPR Trade Show
Price: $7.49
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 179
Stogie Feed: Nomad Therapy Habano Toro
